any advice would be helpful

[sueandjerry]

After over 100 hours of correcting and re-doing things ourselves at our expense on the inside and outside of our 2008 BT Cruiser 5272 we only had two issues to go back to the dealer, and subsequently, Gulfstream, about. We have been stonewalled on both issues, so as a last resort before I just go out and spend MORE of my own money correcting factory flaws, I thought I would ask if any of you have any advice. Our "dealer" (and I use the term loosely!) is over 200 miles away, and the local service center is not a Gulfstream dealer, so even though they are a service center, they are not too happy to help us.

Problem 1: The "upgraded" surround sound system receiver/dvd unit does not work. It comes on at FULL volume every time you turn it on and the buttons do not correspond with what they say they are (like volume) on the unit. Volume changes tuner channels! We were afraid that the unit coming on full blast would blow the 5 surround speakers so we took it out. Further, the dvd player shuts off after about 30 minutes and will not come back on until the unit has been off for several hours. The unit has no manufacturer name on it. Our literature says it is Audiovox, however when we contacted them, they said it is not their unit. We suspect it is a cheap Chinese knockoff. Gulfstreams response to us was put it back in, take it to the service center and if the service dealer blows your speakers, too bad. They will not swap it out for another unit, even if we agreed to pay more for something that at least a manufacturer has enough pride in to put their name on it. Has anyone else had a similar problem?

Problem 2: The shades in the bedroom are transparent--they are day shades that you can see right through in the dark if a light is on inside. Makes it a little uncomfortable for changing clothes! Originally our "gold" person at Gulfstream said the local service center would replace them with day/night shades for $20 each. Then, several weeks later, said she had checked further and that was not an option on our model. It is horrible that Gulfstream would stoop so low as to put shades in a bedroom that you can see through from outside in the dark and not even offer an option to change it. Their position now is that they are "slightly" more opaque than the day shade and that should suffice. Not to mention the fact that they don't keep out any light, my concern is mostly that you can see right through them. Any advice?

Both problems can be fixed by us just opening our wallet further. However, we already have invested a substantial amount of money fixing factory flaws and issues. These both seem pretty basic, where Gulfstream should be willing (at a reasonable cost) to exchange these items for what they should have put in originally. It is frustrating to say the least. Basically we like the coach, it fits us and our lifestyle well, however, at this point, I certainly would never consider another Gulfstream product, nor would I recommend one to anyone else.